Wax Works
Candle making is more complicated than just pouring hot wax in a jar.
There are different waxes, different wicks, different containers, different styles and different scents.
“It's very intensive. It's obsessive compulsive. It's expensive,” said Carol Weber of Sarver.
Weber enjoys making scented container candles.
Once she knows the size of the container she wants to fill, she purchases the correct candle wick.
“It's imperative that you try to get the best wick suitable,” Weber said. “You don't want to under wick or you will cause an overheating problem.”
The wick depends on the type of wax and size of container.
Wax companies will recommend wicks, then experienced candle makers will make changes accordingly.
The wick is attached to the bottom of the container using a hot glue gun or other adhesive.
After her container is ready, Weber uses a blend of paraffin wax and soy wax.
“It has the creamy appearance of the soy with the paraffin; it seems to have a better punch when it comes to fragrances,” Weber said.
She melts the wax blend in a double boiler or tabletop wax melter very carefully.
Manufacturers will recommend a safe melting temperature as wax is highly flammable.
Once the wax is melted, it's time to add colors and other additives.“Use a UV protector, like graduated powder, because you don't want your candle to fade,” Weber said.Fragrance is the last addition to the pot so the scent does not burn off too soon.“Once you have everything poured in, you want the candles to set for a few minutes, and you want to make sure your wicks are all centered,” Weber said. “You want to let them cool down in non-draft area.”While Weber enjoys making container candles, her daughter, Emily Hack of Sarver, is partial to making wax tarts in the shapes of delicious treats, complete with tummy-rumbling scents.“I can make cupcakes and all kinds of cookies and cheesecake,” Hack said.Tarts use a harder wax than container candles so they are able to be modeled and formed.If someone wanted to make a chocolate chip cookie, they would make two batches of wax with the cookie scent, she said. One batch would be light brown like batter and the other dark brown like chocolate.“After you melt the wax and put your color in, then you take it off the heat and then you start whipping it with an egg whip,” Hack said. “You just mix it until you get a little bit of a harder consistency and it starts to cool.”
The wax is then placed on a cookie sheet, wax paper or even a counter top for shaping.Hack says some stores have shapes so the perfect cookie, cake or even Hershey Kiss can be formed.Once the light brown cookie base is shaped, Hack crumbles the dark brown wax on top to represent the chips.The tarts are flameless candles that are heated in different candle warmers to emit the delicious scents.Hack and Weber make their candles for local shops, to give away as gifts and to enjoy themselves.Gwen Lutz of Zelienople takes candle making to another level by using her own beeswax.“My husband decided to get into keeping bees, and once he was keeping bees for a while, we had all this beeswax, so I started experimenting ,” Lutz said.Lutz starts her candle making by first getting the wax from the actual honey comb. The wax is then melted and filtered free of any impurities.Then wicks are strung on a metal wheel so Lutz can begin hand dipping six pairs of candles at a time.Two large pots in a large wash tub over a fire works best for Lutz as a double boiler. The water heats both pots, and Lutz is able to dip directly into one pot and refill it with the other so, her candle wicks can completely submerge.“I dip them one layer at a time until they are a little bigger than a pencil,” Lutz said.
The candles are then cut from the metal wheel in their pairs.In her garage, Lutz has a candle drying rack. Each pair is hand dipped one time in the pot of wax before being hung to dry on the rack.“They have to cool completely in between dipping,” Lutz said. “If you dip too soon, you take a layer of wax off.”Lutz is also careful to watch the temperature of her wax. Just as with other waxes, beeswax is highly flammable.Depending on the size of the candle, the temperature of the wax and the weather outside, it varies greatly on how many dips into the wax each candle needs.On average, Lutz dips each pair 25 to 35 times, very slowly with plenty of time to dry in between.The natural beeswax has a golden color and aroma.“They have the scent of the beeswax,” Lutz said. “It's very pretty. It's got a little bit of a honey scent to it. It also smells of the wax, but if you try to add a scent to that, it turns out not so good.”Lutz prefers beeswax over paraffin and soy wax for a few reasons.“The beeswax candles are very long burning. They have a longer life than a paraffin candle,” Lutz said. “They burn very hot and very clean. It's a small hot flame, so you don't get a lot of smoke.”
Lutz first learned how to make beeswax candles by reading books, researching on the Internet and speaking with other beekeepers in the Butler County Beekeepers Association, the Beaver Valley Beekeepers Association and the Eastern Agricultural Society.Once she perfected her technique, she is able to sell candles in local stores and give demonstrations to different groups.“It's kind of a very calm and serene kind of hobby because it's very precise,” Lutz said. “It's a quite calm feeling. I really like spending time doing that. It kind of makes you step back from your busy schedule and spend some time relaxing.”
